Let the Record Show
by systematic-alchemy
Summary: An unkillable Spike makes a demand and a sacrifice is made out of love.
1. Chapter 1

Notes: This is in an AU season 4. Dawn's around just cause, and the Gem of Amara works a tad differently.

* * *

The fires along Revello were too much for the fire department to control even without the vampires and demons openly killing anyone that fled their blazing homes. Buffy had gotten her mother and sister to safety, but she couldn't fight so many demons at one time and no one else had made it that night. Firefighters and residents alike were nothing more than bodies littering the ground and there were demon bodies among the dead. Buffy felt ready to drop after a fight that made the Mayor look breezy, but it was about to get worse despite the sun being already half up. A shadow in the smoke materialized into Spike.

Buffy knew which ring was the Gem of Amara. It spread diamond spiderwebs up his hand, arm, and over part of his chest, back, and neck, weaving in and out of his skin. While it allowed him free movement, her attempts to cut it off his body proved that she had no blade strong enough to break it. And she knew it wasn't actual diamond, diamonds can cut each other and her new axe had a diamond blade and didn't even dent the material.

He hit her hard enough to crack a tooth. She tried to run, but her battered body wasn't fast enough. Spike grabbed her hair, yanked her to his chest, exposed her throat and bit… hard. She knew he wouldn't kill her. This was the latest of his bites, all designed to make her submit, and this time she had to. When he let her go, she fell to the ground without his support.

"Do you give in yet? If the answer is no, then you need to consider that I know where your family is. They're staying with the Watcher. So do you give up?" Spike asked as he thumbed the blood on the corner of his lips into his mouth.

She panted as she tried to stand, only to fall and scrape the heels of her hands on the concrete. With tears in her eyes, she screamed, long and painful, "Yes."

"I'll expect my prize to be delivered to the mansion before dark. And I can't wait to see who you give me. I'm all a tingle with anticipation."

* * *

The door to Giles' apartment loomed, and she had the worst news to give them all. The gang was inside, Giles, Willow, Xander, Mom, Dawn, Oz. If she had her way she'd give up Anya, but she had disappeared weeks ago.

Buffy limped into the apartment, dripping blood from a myriad cuts and scrapes. Giles and Willow had waited up all night and jumped into action like a well coordinated machine. Willow sat Buffy down and peeled away destroyed clothes, while Giles retrieved soapy water, gauze, tape, and antibacterial cream.

"Sss, that's the worst so far," Willow said as she pulled Buffy's hair out of the congealing blood on her neck. "Spike?"

"Who else, ah." Buffy winced, a hair creating a funky sensation as Willow removed it from the wound. "But that's the only thing from him."

"We watched the news until the reporter and camera person were eaten. Your mom tried to stay up, but Giles drugged her to keep her from going after you." Willow took a wet soapy washcloth from Giles, and dabbed at the bite mark.

"She's a parent, and any good parent would want to help their child. I did what you would have wanted, yes?" Giles took his own cloth and wiped at a cut just above Buffy's elbow. "This needs some butterfly bandages. I'll be right back."

"Giles?" Buffy said, pushing Willow's hand away. "It's time."

"I see. Once we have you patched up, I'll wake everyone. Might as well tell them all at one time." Giles ducked down the hall toward his bathroom.

"Tell us what?" Willow asked, forehead creased.

The conversation had started to wake those sleeping on the living room floor and couch. Buffy closed her eyes. "You'll find out in a few minutes."

Willow nodded and continued to clean out Spike's bite.

Everyone, except Buffy's mom, had been in the living room, and they were awake now, mulling about and talking in hushed tones as they ate breakfast. When Willow and Giles were finished bandaging Buffy's wounds, which included a gash over the eye and another under, deep claw marks on her back and stomach, and a puncture in her thigh, Giles told the children to gather around him in the living room.

Joyce joined them then. "What's going on?" Oz left his spot on the couch and moved to stand next to Willow. Joyce took his seat and asked, "What's the matter?"

"I have something to tell you. Something about Spike. As you know he has the Gem of Amara, and that despite our extensive research, we cannot remove it from him. He's become invulnerable and has acquired startling new abilities. He can shape-shift, teleport, and if he concentrates, he can read minds. We all know this. And we all know that he's become increasingly violent in his strategic attacks against the residents of Sunnydale." Giles cleaned his glasses.

"Why are you telling us stuff we already know?" Willow asked.

"Because I need to remind all of you what's at stake. Spike's made an offer, a truce of sorts. He'll stop the attacks and help guard the Hellmouth for a price." Giles rubbed his forehead and tried to clear his mind.

"What's the price?" Xander asked. "Can we charge it?"

"The price… is giving up one of our own. To Spike, to become his pet, forever." Giles wished he could find Xander's falling face amusing.

"We can't do that!" Dawn exclaimed. "We can't."

"And how many more would you let die?" Giles snapped.

"I'll go." Willow stepped forward, resolve face firmly in place. "When Spike kidnapped me and Xander last year, I gained some of his respect, stood up to him and got him to not bite or rape me. I know I won't be so lucky this time, but I'd fare better than anyone else."

"Willow?" Oz touched her elbow. "Talk to me."

"Oz, I have to do this. I can't let my home burn and watch my family die when I can keep it from happening."

Buffy stood up and hobbled into the circle. "We found a way to make sure Spike keeps his promise. There's a blood oath, but if we demand that, he will want something else."

With a squeeze to Willow's hand, Oz said, "Give him me too then."

Willow and Oz pressed their foreheads together, gazes locked. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

With a sniff, Willow straightened. "We need to pack. How long do we have?"

"I need escort you to the mansion before dark."

Xander jumped up. "You mean you agreed to this before even telling us? It looks like you and Giles knew about this for a while now. And you decided to give one of us up to him without even a warning? Why don't you give him you?"

"I tried," Buffy said on a sob. "Don't you think I tried?"

The room fell quiet. Dawn cried into her mother's shoulder, Joyce kept her face toward the window, Xander punched a hole in the wall but said nothing else, and Giles hugged Willow, while Buffy shuffled outside to cry in private.

"We should go," Oz said.

In a shaky voice, Willow explained the worst part of the deal. "I have to tell you, make sure you know. We'll have to do everything he asks? That may include killing or hurting innocent people? You know that right? Can you handle that?"

"I'm good."

Willow wiped her tears away. "I'll explain the pet ritual to you on the way."

"How?" Giles asked.

"I read it in the Watcher's Diaries."

"So you were fully aware when you agreed to this." Giles was stunned and morbidly proud.

"Yes."


	2. Chapter 2

The mansion towered over the three friends as they exited Oz's van, the hues of sunset doing nothing to soften the gothic monolith.

"Tell me I'm doing the right thing." Buffy twisted her hands together.

"You are. We are," Willow said as she rubbed Buffy's arm.

"I'm petrified." Buffy sucked in a breath. "I'm terrified that he'll go back on his promise and just kill the two of you for sport."

"If he does that, you take Oz's van and you run. You get your family, Xander and Giles and run." Willow kissed Buffy's forehead. "We should get this over with."

"Here goes nothing." Oz slung his backpack and guitar case over his shoulders then picked up his amp.

Willow picked up her suitcase and laptop case and took Oz's free hand. "What does that even mean? Here goes nothing? I have to say that this is something that's going. Doesn't it mean we think we'll fail? That's no way to think. We will not fail. This will be a success even if I have to rain fire down to make it so."

Oz kissed Willow's hand. "I meant it more in that we already failed, and this is our concession."

"Oh, well, that makes sense."

Buffy gave the couple a wistful smile. She would miss them both so much.

It was Oz who knocked on the door, and it was a minion that answered. "Master is through here."

The three of them followed and found Spike in the garden, back facing them. "I hear three heartbeats. Does that mean you want something else, slayer?"

"In a sense." Buffy stood in front of her friends. "We want you to take a blood oath to keep your promise."

Spike turned to face them. "Let's take a gander at what you brought me." Willow smiled weakly at Spike as he studied her form. "Over here, Willow."

Willow held her head high as she went to stand behind him.

Buffy put her arm in front of Oz. "You don't get Oz until you swear with your blood that you'll stop attacking the town and protect the Hellmouth."

"I swear by my blood to stop mass attacks on Sunnydale and help keep the Hellmouth closed." Spike bit into his wrist but the drops of blood never hit the ground, but rather disappeared in sparks of light that glinted off the gem on his exposed hand, arm and throat. "Now get out of here before I kill you, slayer."

With one last look at her friends, Buffy nodded and walked stiffly out of the mansion.

"So they gave me the witch and the wolf?" Spike circled the two. "The two most powerful soldiers outside the slayer. I got the better part of this deal. Though since I promised to help keep the Hellmouth closed that means I will have to lend your services to the bitch from time to time."

Oz stood there unperturbed setting his things down, giving Willow the strength to not react to Spike's obvious attempts to rattle them. She put her bags on the ground carefully.

"Before we begin, I need to ask a question. Which one of you would like to be a doctor and which would like to be a computer programer?"

Willow looked at her feet. "I'm good at both medicine and computers."

"Then you'll double major, freeing the wolf here to go into accounting and psychology. The two of you will be well rounded and useful pets." Spike ran a finger down the side of Oz's face. "Let's talk rules. First, I demand a verbal answer when I speak to you. You will address me as Master. And if you're awake and I'm there, you will look to me unless I say otherwise. Always state what's on your minds. I want to hear what you think, about your emotions, because you are mine and so everything you are, including what's on the inside, belong to me too. I will punish you as I see fit with or without cause. Work toward the goal of anticipating my wants and needs. I think that's a good place to start, don't you?"

"Yes, Master," the couple said in unison.

"Good, now here's what I know for sure about what will happen to you after the ritual: you'll be immortal and will only die if I do which is very unlikely, or if I'm the one doing the killing; you'll have heightened senses, though I'm not sure how much more for the wolf; you'll be as strong as me; your magic, Willow, and your wolf, Oz, will answer to me; and you'll heal faster." Spike pursed his lips for a moment. "Here's what I don't know. I have all kinds of new tricks, and I don't know if you'll be able to use those or not. I'm sure you're already aware of many of them: invulnerability, shapeshifting, mind reading, teleporting. Now here's what you don't know: I don't need an invitation, I have a reflection again, garlic is delicious, I don't need to feed as often, I don't sleep, and I can fly. After the ritual, I don't know how these powers will manifest or not in the two of you. So who's up for an experiment?"

"Can't lie, I'm intrigued… Master," Willow said with pensive expression.

"Me too, Master." Oz nodded, internally chafing at calling anyone Master.

"Then let's get started. Do we need to go over the details of the ritual before we begin?" Spike asked as he slipped his fingers through Willow's hair.

"No, Master, we both know what to do." Willow's breath caught when her gaze met with Spike's two inches away. His eyes glimmered in the failing light like they were made of glass.

"Totus EGO sum est totus vobis," Willow said as she bared her neck to Spike. She winced when he bit her, but it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would. When he drew back, she was smiling. "Nifty." She leaned against the vine covered wall to stay upright. She kept her eyes on Spike as he bit into his wrist again, when he offered her that wrist, she didn't hesitate to cover the wound with her mouth. Her tongue laved the wound, drinking down every drop she could before it closed.

"That's it, love." Spike ran his fingers through her hair some more, keeping their gazes locked. Her lips were speckled with blood when she lifted her head.

"I feel… wow," Willow looked at her hands as she willed them to turn into paws. Soon she was completely transformed into a wolf with white fur streaked with red. Then she was herself again. "This is so cool. There's so much I want to do."

"Feel free, pet," Spike said.

"I think I'll wait for Oz, oh um, Master. I will get used to that. I promise."

Spike laughed at her exuberance.

When Spike looked at Oz, the wolf said, "Totus EGO sum est totus vobis." The bite felt right to Oz, like he'd been missing something before. His member, now half hard, surprised him. He'd never been into guys, but this reaction was as much about Spike's body pressed against his, as it was the bite. Drinking Spike's blood hardened Oz even more. He was drunk on Spike's power when Oz kissed him. Spike spun Oz and pressed himself more securely against the wolf, trapping him between the wall and his body.

The scent of Willow's tears pulled Oz away from Spike. "Willow, I'm sorry."

Spike let his wolf go to their witch, smirking at their pain and guilt. He watched Oz apologize and hold the girl. She was more than prepared to forgive Oz, and Spike wondered why. Neither of them were looking at him, but Spike could wait to punish them for that infraction.


	3. Chapter 3

Willow noticed Spike had left them before Oz did. "Not good. We're not supposed to take our eyes off him. We need to find him in a now type of sooner."

"How much can he harm us?" Oz asked as if the answer were inconsequential.

"I don't want to find out because this is Spike, and he'll come up with something truly horrific. Something that will break us both. He's that kind of baddie." Willow wiped her tears away and searched for Spike in the mansion. The minions were nowhere to be found, and she hoped Spike hadn't left with them. "How long did we ignore him?"

"I don't know. Ten minutes."

She started to shake. "I'm going to try something. Teleporting. If we can teleport to him, maybe he won't be as mad. I hope."

Oz nodded, and they both closed their eyes and focused. Willow remembered Spike's eyes, while Oz pictured him as a whole.

"Glad you could join the party," Spike drolled.

The couple opened their eyes and saw that they were outside the Bronze. "We're sorry, Master. It won't happen again. We're just not used to focusing so completely on someone. Oz and I promise it will never happen again." Willow's trembles felt like earthquakes in her chest.

"There'll be no hard feelings in the morning, but you have to do something to make that happen. You need to go inside and pick up two people. Willow, you'll find a woman, and seduce her into coming outside. Oz, you'll seduce a man. You have an hour or I'll be cross enough to kill one or two of your little gang. If you succeed then your friends are safe. How much are you willing to sacrifice tonight?" Spike pressed Willow against the wall when her eyes flickered away. "Eyes always on me, pet. And don't forget you are my pet. My slave. My toy. You exist for my enjoyment and nothing else."

Willow cringed but kept her eyes locked on his. "Yes, Master. Will you be inside?"

"No, so you don't have to split your attention. I'll be waiting in the alley." Spike grinned when she shrank away. "Eyes to the club, you two. And get me my couple."

"Yes, Master," Willow whispered, while Oz said it flat. They retreated inside the club where Oz stopped Willow and said, "We can't do this."

"We can't let him kill our friends," Willow replied.

"They'd at least know what's happening to them."

"But they can save more people. Can you say the same thing for anyone in here tonight?" Willow glanced around the club with her guilt evident in every worried crease of her forehead.

"How will they feel when they find out we let Spike kill two people to save them?" Oz touched her arm.

"Who would Spike kill? Giles? Our best chance at stopping Spike? Xander who still remembers some of his military training? Joyce? Dawn? It would destroy Buffy to lose them. She'd fight recklessly and get herself killed, meaning the only person guarding the hellmouth would be Spike. You know that's not an option. He may stop others from opening it, but he'd let Sunnydale be a demon playground. So who do we save? Do we save the people equipped to stop that or do we save two innocent people and let the town burn?" Her eyes were filled with tears of frustration and anger. "I told you what we were getting ourselves into and you still agreed to this. It's too late to turn back."

"I thought I could, but… I can't." Oz felt closer to tears than he had since he was little.

"I'll have to seduce them both then. Pray he accepts it." Willow murmured to herself, "I'm so glad I got this fake ID. I don't think I can do this sober."

Oz sat in the corner and watched Willow go to the bar and order a drink. As she waited for it, she scanned the crowd. He couldn't look away as she downed two shots of something brown and took a short glass of the same stuff with her as she approached a couple on the dance floor. The way she placed herself between the man and woman was brazen, but he could see her awkward hesitations.

The man was tall, over six foot, and probably of Latin or Hispanic descent. The girl was dark with short purple hair. Willow put her arms on the woman's shoulders, and drink still in hand, drew her in close. The woman laughed at something Willow said, and the man gathered close behind Willow, just shy of grinding into her.

A familiar ache clutched Oz's heart as Willow kissed the woman. He'd just kissed Spike with fervor, but that didn't change how he felt.

Willow got the couple outside in less than half the time Spike gave them. Oz knew he was going to get beaten, but Spike's cold eyes landed on Willow.

"I don't know whether to reward or punish you, Red." Spike leaned his head back and studied the couple. They were attractive, exotic for Hellmouth.

The couple didn't know what was going on and murmured to each other in confusion. When they tried to leave, Oz cut them off against his will, turning into a nreal wolf, his fur red with black streaks. Spike controlling everything.

"I'll do both. I'll reward you with a choice, pet." Spike sucked his cheeks in as he smiled malevolently. "You can give them to me to turn, or you can take a beating and they can go free."

"I'll take the beating." Her answer was immediate. Not even a breath of hesitation.

"My wolf, let them go."

Oz went to sit beside Spike, and the couple ran away. Spike watched them run while he absently pet Oz's head.

Spike snapped his fingers and Willow turned into her wolf form against her will. "You two are going to fight it out. Last one standing, gets a reward."

Both wolves whimpered as they circled each other. Neither made a move until Spike threatened to find that couple, and then Willow lunged at Oz, her teeth clamping onto his neck. Wolf instincts took over and the two of them growled and snapped at one another, taking chunks out of each other until Oz couldn't get up. Their fur was soaked with blood. Willow began to lick at Oz's wounds until Spike snapped his fingers again. Oz lay on his side on the disgusting alley floor, while Willow was on her hands and knees. They were a mess, both still covered in blood.

"Willow." Spike's tone was stern and she looked up at him.

"Yes, Master."

"You'll be my second in command."

"Yes, Master." Willow kept her eyes on Spike while she pulled Oz up to a seated position.

"When both of you can walk again, meet me inside."

Willow and Oz watched Spike enter the Bronze through the back door. Oz slumped into Willow as his wounds knit back together. "That could have gone worse."

She nodded. "Yeah. How are you feeling?"

"Better. The leg you shattered, I can feel it knitting back together."

"My ear is almost back on too." Willow sighed. "I'm sorry I did that to you."

"Me too."

They nuzzled their faces together.


End file.
